The surreal figurative work I create with clay is an invitation for others to collaborate with me in a narrative. I weave a story for the piece, as a character, in my mind and I hope the viewer will bring their own interpretation.
All figures are hand-built, usually with an
earthenware clay body, and formed from slabs. There are certain images and
elements repeated such as tally marks, skulls as a memento mori, crowns, and
pictographs and textures handmade from bisqued clay. Work often includes found objects such as bones, fiber, feathers, and sticks. I combine a variety of textures and prints into figures and, after firing with a copper carbonate wash and any glaze (used sparingly), thin layers of cold finishes are
applied.
This week's Poet of the People with Al Black is Lang Owen
This week's Poet of the People is Lang Owen. Before the printing press, balladeers carried poetry and news to the people; Lang Owen writes in that tradition. He is a gifted singer/songwriter who writes poem songs about people and the human condition. Every so often you meet someone who paints stories that sound new every time you hear them sung - I am privileged to know Lang Owen. www.langowen.com/
-Al Black
Lang Owen works straight out of the 1970s singer-songwriter tradition, employing poetic lyrics to express the challenges and possibilities of the current day, often viewed through the perspective of individual's imagined interior lives. Lang’s gift for seeing the world around him and dialoguing with others about their lives informs his songwriting, which often takes the form of conversations between characters in his songs. Lang released his third album, Cosmic Checkout Lane, in April 2024, his second collaboration with musician/producer Todd Mathis. “Cosmic Checkout Lane is about living our wisdom at any moment, including standing in a grocery store checkout line,” Lang says.
In 2022 Lang released She’s My Memory, which the Post & Courier Free Times ranked sixth on its The Best of South Carolina Music 2022 list. Lang’s 2019 debut album Welcome To Yesterday was hailed as “evocative storytelling at its finest” by music writer Kevin Oliver. Lang has played multiple venues in North and South Carolina, and received airplay on radio stations in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and Luxembourg.
Everybody Here
Everybody here’s my therapist
I need all the help I can get
I look around, I’m losing my ground
I don’t like what I see one bit
I float by like a whisper, you hand me a megaphone
In our own little worlds somehow we’re not alone
We’re not alone
Everybody here
Everybody here’s my archeologist
Digging in the dirt for things I miss
Down on hands and knees beneath the olive trees
Finding my love still exists
We live in memory like statues standing in Rome
In our own little worlds somehow we’re not alone
We’re not alone
Everybody here
I don’t know what I’m dreaming any more
I just know you’re believing
I don’t know whose shoes are on my floor
I just know you’re not fleeing
What I can do is wash your feet
Patch you up when you’re bleeding
I’ll keep your secrets discrete
I’ll say what you’re meaning to me
I float by like a whisper, you hand me a megaphone
In our own little worlds somehow we’re not alone
We’re not alone
Everybody here
Gravity
I’m not a smart man, but I know gravity
I drop nails from many a roof, it’s physics obviously
Don’t take paper in a frame to see that things fall
I’ve done this job for twenty-eight years, I’m a jack of all trades
I fix everybody’s leaky walls, water moves in strange ways
Don’t take paper in a frame to know a hammer’s what you need
House to house, I drive around, lots of new cars everywhere
From my truck, I see it clear, this town’s in disrepair
I guess that’s why God put me here
My knees are shot, all the ups and downs, I tell my boy get your degree
I’ve done some things of which I’m proud, it never came easily
Don’t take paper in a frame to know what builds you breaks you down
House to house, I drive around, lots of new cars everywhere
From my truck, I see it clear, this town’s in disrepair
I guess that’s why God put me here
I paint all your empty rooms, I like the smell of something fresh
I leave a little bit of me in there, where your baby lays down to rest
Don’t take paper in a frame to know love’s all in your hands
House to house, I drive around, lots of new cars everywhere
From my truck, I see it clear, this town’s in disrepair
I guess that’s why God put me here
Love Sputnik
Mr. Hardy taught the sciences, the stuff of life
Backrow kids mocked thinning hair and tattered ties
Astronomy was his true love, Mr. Hardy had no wife
Russia launched first satellite shook the world
Beep beep on ham radio, spaceage unfurled
Mr. Hardy daydreamed at his desk of a long-lost girl
Oppenheimer called out God
Galileo searched the stars
Mr. Hardy lectured genius does no tricks
Sir Iassac’s apple fell to ground
Einstein wrote it simply down
Mr. Hardy questioned who on earth invents
Love Sputnik
18,000 miles an hour light across the sky
Mr. Hardy said change rockets into our lives
When she burned up in the atmosphere, Mr. Hardy cried
I recall a film about the sun Hardy showed
Man in glasses explained giant stars someday explode
In the cosmic scheme of things no one is betrothed
Oppenheimer called out God
Galileo searched the stars
Mr. Hardy lectured genius does no tricks
Sir Iassac’s apple fell to ground
Einstein wrote it simply down
Mr. Hardy questioned who on earth invents
Love Sputnik
Mr. Hardy gazed alone at night crescent moon
Mr. Hardy knew she’s inching away too soon
Mr. Hardy retired from everything that very June
Oppenheimer called out God
Galileo searched the stars
Mr. Hardy lectured genius does no tricks
Sir Iassac’s apple fell to ground
Einstein wrote it simply down
Mr. Hardy questioned who on earth invents
Love Sputnik
Man With A Broom
Thirty years I swept floors, F & M Bank
Retired with a big mug, too many last hugs
Cards and thanks
Now I use a red broom, sweep my curbside
Photos, bottles, pennies, cigar butts
You know it’s not right
My sight is still good, careful when the cars pass
My doctor says she’s never seen a man my age
With such a strong back
I’ve got so little to leave this big world
I never had a son or a precious little girl
I’m just an old man with a broom
On the street in the sun Monday afternoon
Man with a broom
I found a brown shoe on the sidewalk nearby
My whole day puzzling what happened to that foot
Can’t say why
My shadow tells time, I don’t wear a watch now
I can see no point in counting the hours
As they wind down
Who’ll pick up this broom? Nobody wants to sweep
I’m scared things all go to hell when I fall into
That long sleep
I’ve got so little to leave this big world
I never had a son or a precious little girl
I’m just an old man with a broom
On the street in the sun Monday afternoon
Man with a broom
Neighbor kid walks by with those earphone things
Give me a listen, though it don’t beat Bob Dylan
My heart still sings
Wife calls me inside, says I’ll die from the heat
But this broom’s what I’ve got, and I’ll sweep ‘til I drop
On this clean street
I’ve got so little to leave this big world
I never had a son or a precious little girl
I’m just an old man with a broom
On the street in the sun Monday afternoon
Man with a broom
Used Books
I Sunday browse your shop for hours
We talk about writers when no one’s there
And you proclaim love for Hemingway
For your age that’s pretty rare
You say you can relate
To wine and war and fate
And how this life is so unfair
Your eyes ask me why, you wait for me to try
I scratch my head, I can’t help you there
You wanna be heard, you gotta listen
You wanna be read, you gotta buy somebody’s book
You wanna be found, you gotta know who you’re missing
You wanna be seen, you gotta really, really look
Oh I swear, my sweet Karina
I once told a girl you never mind my words
“I mind them too much,” she said with a smile
She vanished like a ghost in a cloud of cigarette smoke
I missed that coming by a country mile
I tell this tale to you, I’m no fountain of any truth
Might be the one thing I do today worthwhile
No doubt it’s been said by poets long since dead
There’s nothing in this world we can’t defile
You wanna be heard, you gotta listen
You wanna be read, you gotta buy somebody’s book
You wanna be found, you gotta know who you’re missing
You wanna be seen, you gotta really, really look
Oh I swear, my sweet Karina
Old Man and The Sea, I peruse with iced coffee
I’ll soon forget every page I turn
My days are scribbled down, torn up paper on the ground
Take what I say this once for what it’s worth
You wanna be heard, you gotta listen
You wanna be read, you gotta buy somebody’s book
You wanna be found, you gotta know who you’re missing
You wanna be seen, you gotta really, really look
Oh I swear, my sweet Karina
Koger Center Double Feature – Free Art Receptions and Performances by Squonk Opera
Next week, the Koger Center has two days back-to-back planned with art receptions and free concerts. Squonk Opera returns to the Koger Center Plaza Stage for two free performances of their new show, Brouhaha. The troupe last performed at the Koger Center in September 2022 with their show “Hand to Hand.” This year, the featured prop of Brouhaha is the “Squonkcordion,” an enormous musical instrument that takes center stage in the performance. The two performances are on May 15 and 16 at 6 p.m. Bring your picnic blankets and chairs – the Koger lawn always encourages it!
Prior to Squonk taking the stage on May 15, join the Koger Center and Auntie Karen Foundation for the closing reception of “The Circus” by Jennifer “J’Renee” Johnson, an exhibit in the Koger Center Lobby. J’Renee is internationally known for her reverse glass paintings (eglomise) depicting Southern lifestyle themes, tropical design, and the life and times in New Orleans, pre and post-Hurricane Katrina. After almost 30 years, she has mastered the artistry of reverse glass painting. The exhibit is in the main lobby of the Koger Center where the work of Philip Mullen is typically housed and includes both new and old works along with a sculpture created for the 2024 iteration of the Auntie Karen Foundation’s annual “Legends of...” concert and auction. The reception is from 4:30 – 7 p.m. and is free and open to all interested.
On May 16, join the Jasper Project as we celebrate Third Thursday with our newest artist in the Nook, Malik Greene. Our Third Thursday opening reception is from 5:30 – 7 p.m. Malik Greene's art is a means of expression, honoring the people in his immediate environment as an act of resistance and existence. Based on his personal experiences, his large-scale figurative paintings address themes of identity, kinship, and the residual effects of cultural traumas. By expressing these sentiments in his work, Greene can consider the societal intricacies surrounding his Black experience.
We encourage all patrons for all three events to float between the art receptions and concerts! For more information, visit KogerCenterForTheArts.com or email kogercenter@sc.edu.
Are you ready to Glo?
You are warmly invited to The Glo Show on Friday May 10, 2024 at the Olympia room at 701 Whaley. The house opens at 6:30 p.m. with heavy hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar, and the performance starts at 7. The Glo Show is a performance, dance party, and a fundraiser to raise $4000 for a matching grant to Power Company Collaborative from the South Carolina Arts Commission.
The Power Company Collaborative is a multidiscipline group of artists with dance as our root of origin committed to empowerment for all people through creative engagement. Martha Brim, artistic director for The Power Company Collaborative, aka PoCoCo, has been at the helm for almost 25 years!
The Glo Show has a triple purpose. First, to raise money to match Power Company Collaborative’s SC Arts Commission grant. The pandemic sucked for artists, but the Power Company continued to make work during the lockdown in a time that wasn’t easy for anyone. They received some small grants from the Arts Commission, but they’ve blown through the savings trying to continue their work. This matching grant would go a long way to support the 25th anniversary!
The second purpose is to celebrate PoCoCo and their silver 25th anniversary! According to Martha Brim, silver symbolizes radiance, brilliance and longevity.
The third, and grounding purpose for the variety show style evening is to honor Gloria Talcove Woodard. Gloria (Glo) was a friend, a luminous and joyful person in our community who died in 2018 from cancer. Her husband Doug said, “Gloria danced and laughed through the world with boundless energy.” There are many stories of Gloria launching into spontaneous dance pretty much wherever she went.
And that’s what Martha experienced with her throughout our friendship. Whenever she and I would get together we would end up dancing. After she died, Martha made a vow to herself that if she ever saw someone dancing in public I would join them as a tribute to Gloria.
During The Glo Show, they will be DIYing our own joyful luminosity as Glo-ing up with interactive possibilities (ok dance party)! As poet Amanda Gorman said “There is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it.”
The performers and artists who have generously donated their time come from as far away as South Africa. Performances include various dance styles, live music, performance art, puppetry and film. Some of the listed performers are: Erin Bailey and Moving Body Dance, Brittany Watkins, Beth E. Coiner, Besty Newman and La Tropa, Allison Tipton Milner, Amanda Ling, Lisa Wheeler, Leanne Kornegay, Sally T McKay and the Hump Day Tappers, and of course Ken May and Jeanne Garane!
There are many ways to support this fundraiser:
Buy a ticket and enjoy the amazing show! ($30)
Click on the link or qr code and donate.
Share this information with people who are also luminous and may want to support PoCoCo.
If you see someone dancing, join them. Glo and Martha style.
Philip Mullen Exhibition -- RED & WHITE -- in Taylors, SC
Wonder on to the SC Upstate for a new exhibition of Philip Mullen Art. Titled RED & WHITE, the show runs from May 10 through June 29, 2024 at the Hampton III Gallery at 3110 Wade Hampton Blvd, Suite 10 in Taylors, SC.
The Artist Reception is scheduled for Friday May 10th from 6 - 8 pm and a special event — Coffee and Conversation will be Saturday May 18th from 11 am - noon.
Poetry of the People with Al Black featuring Tim Conroy
This week's Poet of the People is Tim Conroy. I met Tim Conroy several years ago at a Columbia literary event and cajoled him into doing his first poetry feature. We became fast friends, haunting and terrorizing coffee shops throughout Columbia. Later, we teamed up with singer/songwriter, Lang Owen as the Two Hats & a Ponytail trio. When Tim's wife retired, they fled to Florida; however, he will be back in Columbia to perform Tuesday, 05/07 at Simple Gifts and Wednesday, 05/08 at Mind Gravy with Lang and myself for the Reunion Tour of Two Hats and Ponytail.
Tim Conroy is a military brat who has lived all over the country and eventually ended up in South Carolina. A retired educator and beloved social rabble rouser, he has published two books of poetry, Theologies of Terrain, Muddy Ford Press 2017 and No True Route, Muddy Ford Press 2023. During COVID, he co hosted the YouTube poetry interview series, Chewing Gristle
Lousy
My Dad said lousy a lot
to describe his children
a lousy jump shot, a lousy right fielder,
a lousy bedmaker, a lousy dishwasher,
with a lousy attitude.
We had lousy eyes, freckles, and postures.
But he would never admit,
we were stationed in lousy towns.
We could have become lousy
because he fought in three lousy wars,
where he won a few lousy medals.
Every year, we left friends and moved
on lousy cross-country car trips.
He had a lousy temper and backhand.
His world turned lousier when our mom divorced him.
He was lousy in love with her.
He tasted lousy when schizophrenia
came for one of his sons.
Afterward, he was never a lousy grandfather
or a lousy money giver.
He remained lousy at saying sorry.
When he died, we never felt lousier
and knew a pilot's love didn't land empty,
his caps and his godawful shirts,
his lousy flaws, our hearts.
No True Route, Muddy Ford Press, 2023
The Flight Jacket
hung in the closet to forget the throttle
and how it zoomed from carriers during
the Korean War, dipped into battle
of the Chosin Reservoir for the troops
to make a break for it through scarred paths
and never told its story, zipped up mute
stayed cold to the touch preferring the dark
every day its arms down not saluting
while its empty pockets refused to hold
onto the sound of bombs and men waving
screaming hello, goodbye, and blood marking
each sleeve forever, but the leather saved
many lives, though not Dad’s, his explosions
and how he didn’t want us to touch him
The Child We Need
In front of imperial drones,
swollen under cement blocks
—tongues, old and young
because we doubt what is told
because it takes silence to listen
because we need to learn gestures
to rise reversals from wombs.
War-born babies and hostages
with no chink of light, no angels,
no safe mangers even for donkeys,
only hunger and inconsolable wails
until we embody the dead,
the child we need to live won’t
sing and fly paper kites in Gaza.
The Best Part
The truth be known,
gay or straight,
the priest gets paid,
the nun has a shitty deal,
the minister wants his ass kissed.
Meanwhile I have felt a voice
in the forest of owls and ordinary spaces.
Strangers have rescued me from peril;
like you, love has saved me.
Your neighbor is human.
We don’t listen or tell it right,
we take it literally,
we can’t write it down better,
we make it too complicated.
Who have you loved in this journey?
What is it you have given?
From Theologies of Terrain, Muddy Ford Press, 2017
A Fitted Game
The American Legion is full of men and women who battle
video games for printed slips to exchange at the bar for cash.
They don't dare add up the losses, so full of gin and silent friends.
Some say it's a loss of purpose and only passing time.
My Dad would have died playing if he hadn't croaked in bed.
His fingers reached, but I did not know what to tell him.
Their sacrifice isn't gone, and the popcorn kernels are still free,
salted, and buttered, sliding down throats that burn like cigarettes.
The flashing screen doesn't care who presses the fortune of the hours,
shouldering memories with sips. No soldier deserts the machine
that programs a fitted game, though many dream of a different outcome.
I have loved those players who won once
CALL for Visual Artists! Koger Center for the Arts Opens Submission Period for Annual Art Contest
The Koger Center for the Arts is bringing back their art competition, “The Project” for 2024. The submission period opened on April 17 and will close on July 19, 2024. The first-place winner for the contest receives a $500 stipend and a group of artists will get the opportunity to showcase their winning artwork!
The beginning of the art contest started during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The goals were simple – offer a small financial award to a South Carolina artist and provide a platform to showcase the talent of artists in our state through an exhibition at the Koger Center.
You can fill out the submission form here!
The requirements for submissions are as follows:
· Artist must be over 18 years old and based in South Carolina
· Submissions must be your own, original work
· Submissions must have been created in the past 2 years
· If an artist has applied before, repeat art cannot be submitted again
· Previous winners of The Project/1593 Project (the name of the contest the year it was created) may not submit artwork for up to 5 years. Honorable mentions are still allowed to enter again.
The end of the submission period coincides with the run of the exhibit “The Project 2023 Winners’ Exhibition.” The featured, winning artists from last year’s submission period are Yvette Cummings (first place), Roberto de Leon (second place), Gerard Erley, Susan Lenz, Jo-Ann Morgan, and Cameron Porter (honorable mentions). More information about this upcoming exhibit can be found on the Koger Center site.
If you have any questions or concerns about the submission process, call the Koger Center Admin Office at (803)777-7500, or email Emily Moffitt at moffitte@mailbox.sc.edu.
-Emily Moffitt
Jasper's TINY GALLERY Artist, PAT CALLAHAN, Transforms Columbia Scrap Metal into Wearable Works of Art
May’s Tiny Gallery artist is local jeweler and creative Pat Callahan, who some may know by the name Entangled Jewelry.
Making and fixing objects were staples of Callahan’s childhood, with “creativity, making, and ingenuity always encouraged & patterned at home.”
“A small hutch was always stocked with colored and plain paper, crayons, glue, and such. My mother & maternal grandmother helped my sisters and I explore embroidery, crewel work, knitting, crocheting, sewing, and baking,” she recalls. “My father, a mechanical engineer, could fix and repair seemingly anything, had an amazing array of tools, and somehow found time to craft furniture and carve miniature-scale US Naval ships.”
Callahan spent her childhood drawing, and as she grew, she began replicating the life around her in her drawings: livestock on farms, animals from the zoo, and her own family moving around their everyday life. It is no surprise, then, that she would study art—graphic design specifically—in college, receiving a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University.
After a career in graphic design, Callahan retired from USC Press—the university’s scholarly book publisher. Now having the time, she took her first jewelry class jewelry-making class at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. At this time, she resumed a sketchbook practice and spent more time than ever in her studio.
Callahan found her way to jewelry naturally through her figure drawing and sketching. In the 90s, she began figure-drawing with the group About Face, and this was her main form of creation for 15 years.
“By 2007, I was building shadowboxes, which married my ingenuity with my love of nature findings, metal whatnots, and drawing. As part of this work I learned jewelry techniques to secure items in my boxes,” she shares. “In 2009 I moved my studio home after 13 years at Vista Studios, downtown Columbia, and soon surrendered to making jewelry with recycled, vintage, and metal finds. Through it all, my artistic expression beautifully counterbalanced a computer-based career.”
This all led to Entangled Jewelry, where Callahan makes her creations through building off a special primary material: metal harvested from the streets of Columbia. She finds these materials to be “beautifully scuffed and abraded and rich with story” and believes “working with recycled and vintage elements honors [her] concern for Mother Earth.” She combines these with additional vintage and repurposed elements—and the rare gemstone—for edgy, industrial statement pieces.
The crafting process itself is organic. Whenever Callahan finds a particularly “tantalizing” piece, she keeps it on her work surface, and from here, pairings begin forming in her mind.
“Some pairings are immediate and assemble quickly; others evolve and demand I learn new skills or discover a tool,” she says. “This assemblage, one-of-a-kind approach feeds my creativity and curiosity. Possibilities are endless!”
This industrial, innovative assemblage is apparent in her Tiny Gallery show. Washers and watches become wearable pieces of art in her necklaces. Metal you’d think nothing of as you walk over it on Main Street becomes the stunning centerpiece of a pin. Beads interspersed with charms and toolbox necessities transform into earrings.
“My Entangled Jewelry leans industrial style and genderless. This selection includes pins and clip pins as alternatives to necklaces and earrings,” Callahan says. “I believe in adornment!”
Some may be familiar with Callahan’s work from juried artisan markets such as the Rosewood Art & Music Festival, Sesqui Artisan Market, Cottontown Art Crawl, and Artista Vista Live Mart, and patrons can find her after the show as well at Art on State on May 10, 5:30 to 9:30, in West Columbia.
To purchase any of the works in this article, and to view the additional works in the show, head on over to Jasper’s online gallery space: Tiny Gallery.
-Christina Xan
Al Black's Poetry of the People Features Janet Kozachek
This week's Poet of the People is Janet Kozachek. Shortly before COVID I hosted an ekphrastic poetry event at the Arts Center in Kershaw County, Camden, SC; Janet has had a lot to do with introducing me to many opportunities to host poetry events in Camden, Orangeburg and Hampton County. She is a dynamic advocate of the creative arts and a talented poet, writer, and visual artist. I look forward to participating in whatever event she creates next.
-Al Black
Janet Kozachek has led a long and eclectic career as a writer and visual artist, pursuing work and advanced study in Europe, China, and New York. She was the first American to matriculate in the Beijing Central Art Academy (CAFA), where she studied painting, poetry, and calligraphy. Ms. Kozachek moved to the Netherlands with her husband Nathaniel Wallace, to teach with the University of Maryland overseas division for two years. Returning to the United States she became a graduate student at Parsons School of Design.
During graduate work at Parsons in New York, Kozachek studied painting and drawing with Larry Rivers, Paul Resika, Leland Bell, and John Heliker, and poetry with J.D. McClatchy. It was this brush with McClatchy, then editor of the Yale Review and author of Painters and Poets, that first inculcated the idea for Kozachek that painting and poetry could emanate from the same creative source in western as well as in eastern art.
In South Carolina, Kozachek embarked on a long peripatetic career as an artist in residence and sometimes adjunct professor teaching Chinese art and Mosaic making throughout the state under the auspices of the South Carolina State Arts Commission. Kozachek founded and became the first president of the Society of American Mosaic Artists in 1999. She wrote for, and co-edited, the society’s quarterly publication, Groutline, and co-authored the catalogue for the first international exhibition of mosaics in the United States. She also actively wrote for Evening Reader Magazine, publishing essays on art and social issues. She is the author of four books of poetry.
Song of the Sinuses
(On the occasion of the discovery that researchers playing ancient ceramic musical instruments would sometimes hear a note that others could not because it was generated from resonance inside their sinuses)
The archaeologist,
with his vinyl gloves
and his plastic straw,
played the ancient globular flute,
last touched a millennium ago
by Shaman’s lips.
Six whole notes
climbed up a scale
as the pressure of modern air
yielded sound.
For the record there were six notes.
The archaeologist heard seven.
Investigators played that tape
again and again
– in search of that seventh note.
that they were certain that they heard.
What was that seventh unrecorded final note
that could not be bound
yet rang persistently in their heads?
It was a singular sinus sensation!
The lonely note was for
the hearing of the solitary.
It was a spiritual resonance
of an internal sound
echoing in the caverns of their skulls.
Not every note must be noted.
Not every thought must be voiced.
Not every sound need be heard by others.
Not every action must be known,
nor every meaning ascertained.
Not every desire must be met.
There must be quiet in the world
to leave a space for internal music.
Listen.
News Cycle
( After a Drawing by Laurie Lipton)
Another school shooting
the jaded eyes and numbed mind
observe on the rectangular
porthole to the outside world
Another invasion
I watch the troops float onscreen
above my painted toes
Another disaster
A family sleeps on borrowed blankets
outside the rubble
of what was once their home.
I scan them while reclining
in my own bed
in my air-conditioned room.
Another war
feeds my evening news cycle
I watch it through
the hazy steam
that emanates from my
museum shop coffee cup
decorated with scenes from
Picasso’s Guernica
aesthetically wrapped snugly
around the glazed form.
Purchased for just
$9.99 at the museum shop.
Another famine
plays out across my television
Mothers cradle emaciated infants
My cat cries out
wanting to be fed
I pause to feed her
and switch the channel
I am told
that brain surgery is performed
with just local anesthetics
to get below a scalp’s surface
with sedatives to blunt awareness
of what is inserted or extracted
from the matter of mind
Brains don’t feel pain
Patient patients
close their eyes then
and don’t panic
at what they see or hear
Another massacre?
Too many in a day now
to be counted
With the precision of a scalpel
the news cycle enters
through an anaesthetized cloud
of indifference
blunted by frequency
numbed by distance
cushioned with a thick cotton blanket
blocking out the fear
that the news
some day
will find me
Celestial Beings and Lesser Gods
(Zaparozhia and Melania Perik)
Objects upon a white cloth
lay as offerings to people passing by
in the torpor of late afternoon shadows.
A solitary apple, a tempting trinket,
sit as the trappings of yearning
for a warm bed and respite from hunger.
A mass of woman sits
swaddled in a woven coat
and a thinking hat.
She nods her head downwards,
as hypnogogic hallucinations
fly within and without the hollows of trees.
Celestial beings and lesser gods,
half human and half chicken,
turn right side up and upside down
in their flight between somnolence and wakefulness.
They have been conjured.
They cavort among the boughs,
and then are exorcized
from haunted limbs.
Crow
Crow watches you
with eyes you cannot see,
black on black against the setting sun,
waiting in quiet silhouette upon a branch.
Crow seeks you
in benevolent predation,
to feed upon your sorrows,
and swallow your regrets.
Crow finds you
alone among the living,
lost within memories of departed souls
who call and call your name.
Crow grasps you
in her claws folded
tight around your waist,
her black beak cool against your face.
Crow knows you
when you cross the bridge
into that great void
and come back home again.
Columbia-based Photographer Sean Rayford Releases New Publication Documenting the Final Days of the Old New Brookland Tavern
“When we leave this plane of existence, what do we leave behind? Do I make things of enough importance that future generations get to see what life was like during these times, through my eyes?…”
No one has documented the happenings of the Columbia area more than Sean Rayford. Rayford is a photojournalist and documentary photographer. His unmistakable images of his immersion into major national events have been seen by hundreds of millions of people worldwide who viewed the covers of the largest newspapers, print and online editions, around the world. And yet, it seems to those who don’t know him personally, a lot of his free time is spent documenting the range of day-to-day activities in Columbia and the surrounding area.
On Saturday, April 27th, Rayford is releasing a new photo zine titled For the Record. The zine documents the last three months of the local club New Brookland Tavern, through Rayford’s lens, as it prepared to close after decades of live music at its West Columbia location. “When I learned about the building’s sale in West Columbia, I immediately began this project, knowing the days at the location in West Columbia might be limited. I had been procrastinating a personal photo project about NBT for about a year and I understand the role of photography and the passage of time,” says Rayford.
The more you look at Rayford’s photography the more you understand his burned-in ability to capture the most interesting moment between two mundane seconds of time. This imagery exists on his Soda Citizen Instagram page, and through photo books independently released by him. Part of this is that his point of view is in his DNA, the other part may be his dozen years or so spent behind the bar at the original New Brookland Tavern, watching the night unfold in front of him. Rayford explains “I went to my first show there (New Brookland Tavern) in the fall of 1998 when my suite mate’s band played. I think I was hired by my college radio co-host, Jonathan Dunagin, who was a booking agent at NBT. It’s where I’ve spent most of my adult Thanksgiving holidays.”
Rayford has published compilations of his photography before, but a zine is a different approach for him and closer to his heart. “I look at zines as physical/analog publications that embrace a D.I.Y. mentality. It’s indie publishing without boundaries. They can be what you want them to be,” he explains. “I have more resources, knowledge, skills - but much higher expectations than when I tackled my previous self-publishing efforts. I’d always been on much smaller budgets — without viewing the project as a personal long-term investment in myself as a creator.”
The final show at the West Columbia of location of New Brookland Tavern was December 29th, 2023, and the first show at its new Five Points location was the next day. Rayford documented both.
“I’ve also obviously been a contributor to the smallest and biggest newspapers and magazines in the world. There’s something about challenging yourself, sharing, and delivering creative work. It’s fulfilling - and there is a grasp at immortality going on here,” he continues.
“When we leave this plane of existence, what do we leave behind? Do I make things of enough importance that future generations get to see what life was like during these times, through my eyes? What an immense privilege on multiple levels.”
The release party for For the Record will take place at the New Brookland Tavern in Five Points this Saturday, April 27th. Copies of For the Record will be available for purchase.
Editor’s note: Rayford has previously been featured and been hired on assignment for Jasper Magazine.
-Wade Sellers
For the Record
60 pages / Color / 4.9 inches x 6.7 inches
Koger Center Upstairs Gallery to Open a New Group Exhibit - “Beat of the Heart” curated by Keith Tolen
“What is the beat of a heart?”
The Koger Center for the Arts’ next art exhibition in the Upstairs Gallery features five of Columbia’s finest visual artists: Keith Tolen, Fred Townsend, Rodgers Boykin, Jeffrey Miller, and Ryan McClendon. The exhibit opens April 29 and will be housed in the Koger Center until July 1. The exhibit’s opening reception is scheduled for May 23, from 6 – 8 p.m., and is free to the public.
Tolen, a fellow member of the Jasper Project Board of Directors, approached the four other artists with an idea. A group exhibit showcasing artwork that answered the question “what is the beat of a heart?” in connection to the heart of South Carolina. The work engages the viewer to view the artist’s perspective on the idea and reflect on their own interpretations.
Exhibition Statement: “What is the beat of a heart? It is the contraction of your heart as it pumps blood to the rest of your body. One organ--made of valves, chambers, veins and arteries--is responsible for keeping an entire body--movement, consciousness, breathing--in working order. The thumping in our ears, the press of fingers to palm to check pulse, these are how we know our hearts beat, that we are alive. This exhibition features five moments represented by the work of five artists; each artist may be a key part of this show’s artistic body, but what connects them is this beat. Specifically, this heartbeat seeks to infuse the Carolinas with a pulse of new blood as each artist shares their Carolina experience highlighting the richness of living in this area.
Each artist will share their images based on personal interpretation of the theme: what is art, and how does it serve as a heartbeat living in the Carolinas? The Carolinas pose a beauty that stretches across the terrain from the mountains and foothills to the piedmonts and swamps and, finally, out to the ocean. The diversity of the creative experience will be showcased as these five artists bring to visual light the magic of colors, shapes, and special details to share their stories. The goal of this collection is to engage the viewer with a creative journey into the broad array of expressionism that connects with our rich surroundings. The collective artworks seek to enrich the heart of every viewer as they explore the unique designs displayed in their bold beauty--arteries and veins that run through our state and ourselves. Leaving this body of work will have the viewers longing to purchase a piece in order to continue sharing in the lifeforce of these talented artists. This new blood represents a dose of new energy, pumping throughout not just the show, but each of our bodies, our community. The answer to the question, "what is art?" will become clearer to the audience as they savor each individual image, feeling it beat behind their own chests.”
The Koger Center Upstairs Gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and an hour prior to any Koger Center for the Arts performance
-Emily Moffitt
Jasper Project Board Member AL BLACK Creates New Poem to Celebrate Announcement of ONE BOOK 2024 Novel - BEAVER GIRL by CASSIE PREMO STEELE
In honor of the announcement of Cassie Premo Steele’s novel, BEAVER GIRL, as the selection for the ONE BOOK 2024 community reading project, we asked Jasper Project board of directors member and local poetry guru, Al Black, to read Beaver Girl and craft a poem in response to the message of the book. Al did not disappoint! Please read Al’s poem, and the signature poem for this project, The Remembering, below, then pick up your own copy of Beaver Girl, and write a poem, paint a picture, or create a piece of music in your response to the book and enter it in the Jasper Project’s THE ART OF ONE BOOK 2024 Arts Contest.
The Remembering
Leave your shoes here on the stump.
Go forward on bare feet,
step through into the Remembering.
The ground will know you.
The mycelium will announce your approach.
Next to the beaver pond remove your gown.
Sit naked on the bank. Tonight is the Leaving of the Kits.
The recitation of old stories
of Livia, Chap and their families
Tales of a time when humans and beavers
spoke the same language
and learned to live together, again.
Tonight, young beavers must leave their parents
make space and time for the next litter.
They may invite you to swim
to the far side of the pond with them.
There they will leave the water
and begin their journey to new streams.
Not all of your sisters or all of the kits will remember,
but if they listen,
they will feel memories of the Healing Time
that came after the Great Dying Away.
And maybe - if you are blessed,
you will remember and believe the old stories of a beaver girl
and that ancient laws of preservation are based in truth.
The door of enchantment is only open a short time
so do not question me, remove your shoes and enter the Remembering.
Al Black, 04/21/2024
Announcing the Jasper Project's THE ART OF ONE BOOK 2024 CONTEST for Literary, Visual, and Musical Arts!
The Art of ONE BOOK 2024 – Cassie Premo Steele’s BEAVER GIRL!
Want to bring your own interpretation of 2024’s ONE BOOK selection? The Jasper Project has an opportunity for YOU! Read Cassie Premo Steele’s Beaver Girl, then write a poem, paint a picture, or craft a piece of music with or without lyrics.
Entries
A panel of experts in the art of your entry will review submissions and choose winners in the following categories:
· Poetry
· Visual Art
· Original Music
Winners will receive prizes, be featured in the Fall 2024 issue of Jasper Magazine, and be celebrated at the ONE BOOK 2024 Round-Up Party on Sunday, September 22nd at the One Columbia Co-op! DEADLINE JULY 1, 2024!
All submitted work must be original, family friendly, and capable of being performed or displayed in an outdoors setting. Both 2D and 3D work will be considered for the visual art competition.
Submission Instructions
Email your files to submissions@jasperproject.org. In the email please include your name, mailing address and phone number. Submissions are limited to 3 entries in each arts category.
Include the following attachments in your email:
· Poetry – Word Document or PDF
· Visual Art – Hi-res photos or scanned image of your work.
· Music – MP3 or WAV (If files are under 150 mb you can attach them to the email). For larger files please send a Google drive, Dropbox or One Drive link. Youtube, Vimeo and Sound Cloud links are also fine.
Congaree National Park Spring Forest Wellness Journaling w/ ONE BOOK 2024's Cassie Premo Steele, author of Beaver Girl
Saturday, April 27, 2024
10:00 AM 12:00 PM
Harry Hampton Visitor Center - 100 National Park Road - Hopkins, SC, 29061
Journaling With Cassie Premo Steele, Author of Beaver Girl
Join us for our FREE Forest Wellness Program with Cassie Premo Steele, the author of the new novel, Beaver Girl, an environmental novel set in Congaree National Park. Relieve the stresses of your everyday life by taking the time to reconnect with nature and learn more about the importance of this special ecosystem. The program will include a 2-mile (round trip) meditative walk and a journaling workshop. In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to participate in mindful reflection, meditation, and journaling.
No previous experience is necessary, and all writing will be kept private. A free Congaree National Park journal and pen will be provided to registered participants.
Please meet at the Harry Hampton Visitor Center. All you need to participate is yourself, a water bottle, comfortable shoes, and comfortable clothing. Space is limited, so please sign up ahead of time. For questions or more information please email e-mail us
Pets are not permitted on this program, but service animals are welcome.
Registration is limited to 20 and opens March 26 on Eventbrite
Check out the Jasper Project’s ONE BOOK 2024 page for more info on additional ONE BOOK 2024 events
REGISTER HERE!
Taylor Spreeuwers -- Featured Artist at 52 Windows - An Evening of Art
52 Windows – An Evening of Art is the annual art auction and gala hosted by Columbia’s own Mental Illness Recovery Center, Inc. (Mirci). Jasper has been proud to share the wonderous work that both Mirci and the artists invited to participate in the gala have done, and we are excited to share with our readers the great artists featured this year. The gala is from 6 – 9 p.m. on May 9, 2024, at 701 Whaley. This week, we’re talking about another featured 52 Windows artist, Taylor Spreeuwers.
For over 17 years Taylor (Parrish) Spreeuwers has been working in the arts. She owns TaySpray Designs and Studio, an in-home art studio where she creates and teaches art. Taylor’s pottery, paintings, and murals can be found in various homes and establishments across the state of South Carolina. Taylor’s ceramic sculptures and pottery are primarily created in the slab hand building method. Whether Taylor is teaching her weekly art classes, hosting her summer art camps, whipping up her latest inspiration, or doing an Artist in Residence at public schools in the Columbia area, she can always be found connecting and creating.
Born and raised in Irmo, South Carolina, Taylor received a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of South Carolina in Art Education in 2007. She taught middle school art for 6 years in Lexington School District 1 before starting her own business. Outside of the studio Taylor spends her heart, time, and talents working with nonprofits, traveling, and raising two delightful daughters with her husband, Steve Spreeuwers (Spray-wers). They happily reside in Lexington in a home that really belongs to their Ragdoll, Birdie.
REVIEW: Brian K and the Parkway - Killing The Bear
When you’re a musician from the hometown of Bruce Springsteen, nobody is surprised when the Boss is cited as a major influence in your work. For Brian K. Pagels, who performs as Brian K and the Parkway along with Stephen Russ, it’s not that simple, however.
Russ, who Columbia audiences may remember from his work producing The Restoration and his own act The Fire Tonight, now calls Arlington, Virginia home, while Pagels lives in Alexandria; the George Washington Parkway that connects their towns is where the band’s name originated.
There are rousing stadium-worthy anthems on this new album, but more often he’s drawing from the Americana and power pop progeny of Tom Petty, Drivin’ N’ Cryin,’ and Marshall Crenshaw.
“Just Rock & Roll” hits as one of those poppier tunes, somewhere between Elvis Costello and The Smithereens with a catchy chorus and classic 60s vibe, while “Wind the Clock” takes a moodier tune into a more modern sound that wouldn’t sound out of place between John Mayer and Hozier.
Pagels isn’t a demonstrative singer, but the themes he touches on–problems and how to cope with them, detailed in striking lyrical vignettes set to expansive tunes–lend themselves to his emphatic, unhurried delivery. “Is The Grass Really Greener (In the Green Mountain State)” comes across like a lost Drive-By Truckers track circa Southern Rock Opera while invoking biblical plagues in a tale of getting the hell out of town, for better or worse.
Cat Popper, who’s worked with Jack White, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals and others, guests on “Straight Through,” serving as a vocal foil in what turns out to be the most Springsteen-like tune on the album. A “doo-doot-doo” Motown style chorus, a bridge that echoes “Born To Run” era Bruce, and a quiet solo intro a la “The River,” it’s all there. Popper’s verses expose the vulnerability of the lyric, “The only way out of the darkness is straight through,” pointing to “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” as a retroactive solution, perhaps.
The best rock music can function both as a recorded statement and a live expression; just listening to these tracks offers a hint at the emotional, visceral impact they’ll have in a live setting. Pagels and Russ will be hitting the road in support of the release, with a stop in Columbia scheduled for April 26th at Curiosity Coffee; the show will also feature Moses Andrews and a special guest appearance from former Restoration bandleader Daniel Machado.
Find them on Bandcamp and find the event details on Facebook.
Cassie Premo Steele's BEAVER GIRL is the ONE BOOK 2024 Selection!
The Jasper Project, in partnership with One Columbia for Arts and Culture and All Good Books, is delighted to announce that Cassie Premo Steele’s novel BEAVER GIRL has been chosen as the community reading selection for the ONE BOOK 2024 Project.
Set against the backdrop of a post-pandemic and climate-collapsed world, Beaver Girl follows the journey of Livia, a 19-year-old confronting the aftermath of environmental upheaval. As wildfires encircle her, Livia seeks solace in Congaree National Park, where an unexpected alliance with a beaver family becomes a central theme in her fight for survival.
Steele skillfully intertwines elements of a morality tale, shedding light on humanity's role in climate disaster. The novel delves into the ecological significance of beavers as keystone species, emphasizing their ability to shape landscapes and create sustainable water sources.
Beaver Girl transcends traditional genres, offering a narrative that explores themes of redemption, resilience, and the interconnectedness of all living beings. Anxiety and Outcast Press, through this joint venture, bring forth a powerful story that challenges readers to reflect on the consequences of environmental negligence.
Jasper, One Columbia, and All Good Books have joined hands to provide a summer-long celebration of the project with programming, readings, an arts competition, and a culminating project party in September.
Pick up your copy of BEAVER GIRL,* read along, and join us for the following free events!
April 21 – Earth Day Celebration with Jasper and One Columbia Arts and Culture
April 27 – Congaree National Park Spring Forest Wellness Journaling
May 2 – Can Beavers Really Save the World? Ask the Author and Scholar
June 10 – Uniquely Close: Biodiversity at Congaree and Diversity in Columbia
August 27 – Community Book Discussion with Cassie Premo Steele
September 7 – Congaree National Park Summer Forest Wellness Journaling
September 22 – ONE BOOK 2024 Round-Up Party and Contest Winners Showcase
*Beaver Gril is available at All Good Books, Liberation is Lit, Amason, Barnes & Noble & Bookshop.org
Al Black's Poetry of the People with Marjory Wentworth
This week's Poet of the People is Marjory Wentworth. Marjory Wentworth was and is poetry in South Carolina. She inspired us to become more than we had been and even though she has relocated to Ohio she continues to return and uplift South Carolina poets. Her influence will resonate through the poetry of South Carolina for decades beyond our living.
Talking with Marjory on the phone is a gift of light.
-Al Black
MARJORY WENTWORTH is the New York Times bestselling author of Out of Wonder, Poems Celebrating Poets (with Kwame Alexander and Chris Colderley). Her books of poetry include Noticing Eden, Despite Gravity, The Endless Repetition of an Ordinary Miracle and New and Selected Poems. Her poems have been nominated for The Pushcart Prize 7 times. She is also the co-writer of We Are Charleston, Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel, with Herb Frazier and Dr. Bernard Powers and Taking a Stand, The Evolution of Human Rights, with Juan E. Mendez. She is co-editor with Kwame Dawes of Seeking, Poetry and Prose inspired by the Art of Jonathan Green, and the author of the prizewinning children’s story Shackles. She served as the poet laureate of South Carolina from 2003-2020, and in 2021 she received The SC Governor’s Award for the Arts. Her archives are held at the James B. Duke Library at Furman University. Wentworth teaches at Wright State University. She was named a Black Earth Institute Fellow for 2022-25. For further information see marjorytwentworth.com.
The Architecture of Containment
Enslaved Quarters Part 1
In the small square bedroom
Above the kitchen, heat rising
From the stove in waves so heavy
It was almost visible. A family
trying to sleep here, would lie still
As long as possible, tossing
And turning beneath moonlight, pouring
Through the only open window.
Sometimes a breeze
Carrying the scent of the sea
Rippled through the thick air
As if it could change everything
But the window turned in
On itself, on them and their entire world
The city beyond the high walls
Was as far away as the moon itself
Even the horses, snorting
In the stables
Across the courtyard
Could sometimes see beyond these walls
Flocks of seagulls would often
Find their way here
Strutting across rooftops
Then rising through the line
Of magnolias
High above the walls
some would hover, almost still
Suspended in the air like hope
For The Poetics of Witness program, the Gibbes Museum of Art, Sep. 20, 2023
1937
I never imagined my grandmother at rest,
until I saw the Dorothea Lange photograph
of a sharecropper wife and mother of seven
children near Chesenee, South Carolina;
because this woman is so relaxed,
as if her endless work is done.
Sitting on a chair – one arm stretched across
her swollen belly, the other hand
holding her chin; deep in thought,
her eyes are focused on something outside
the frame, dreaming into the distance,
she looks as if she can see beyond
the cotton fields and the small town
where she was born,
before the babies came one after the other,
before the lean years, when the store
still had barrels full of flour,
oats, and rows of sugary canned fruit
lining the dusty shelves.
After the war to end all wars,
she was young, and life was sweet,
the way it must have seemed
to my grandmother, before giving
birth to eight children on the kitchen table
in the gabled house on a bog road
across the stand of apple trees
in West Bethel, Maine, where snowdrifts
reached the roof most winters
and mud clogged the roads each spring.
In Hebrew, Bethel means house of God.
Sometimes, she must have wondered
where God was in that house west of Bethel,
those grueling years of war and rationing,
when the babies came one after the other.
My mother, number 5, was the fattest.
After three boys in a row, she was adored –
the only one to find a tangerine in the toe
of her Christmas stocking, beneath peppermints
and a pair of red mittens knit by her mother.
She had never seen a tangerine,
and did not know how to eat it. At first,
she thought it was a ball that she could roll
across the floor and watch the black barn cat
try to catch it. This story was her easy way
of explaining how poor they were,
and how my grandmother could make a holiday
out of almost nothing. Like the mother
in the photograph in Chesnee, South Carolina,
who sat down at the end of the long day,
watched the sun setting over the peach trees,
this woman who believed that the pink light
spreading across the tops of the flowering
branches was shining just for her.
Inspired by the exhibition The Bitter Years: Dorthea Lange and Walter Evans Photography from the Martin Z Marguiles/”Sharecropper wife and mother of seven children, Near Chesnee, South Carolina” photographer Dorthea Lange
Flight
Clouds disassembling
Breathless in sunlight
Solid as the afternoon
I am not a part of
That is the place
I am looking for
The earth’s magnet
Of troubles, spinning
As far away
As I am travelling
Nothing is Abandoned
Lined with miles of tangled vines,
coconut palms and bananas
growing thick and green,
the dirt road to the market
climbs through clumps of tangerine
bougainvillea and trees
laden with lemons and limes,
passing pink painted box homes
where bright laundry is always
drying outside on the line,
and roosters pecking at the earth
announce the day triumphant.
The road is the color
of the sun rising over the sea.
There is smoke on the wind
and prayers playing on the radio,
as the road fills with people
walking in the same direction.
Everyone carries something:
buckets of picked peanuts,
a small child on her mother’s back,
bags filled with mangoes, sugar cane
stacked on a tray. An endless
array of items passes by, from loaves
of bread to used batteries;
nothing goes to waste
in this roadside economy.
And nothing is abandoned
on this road pulsing with light
and the gifts the world brings.
Ghana, 2014
CMA Partners with SPIT to bring Unframed Art: The Spit Hits the Fan
Jasper is a sucker for multidisciplinary arts projects! That’s why we love that Columbia Museum of Art is partnering with SPIT — Stars of Politically Incorrect Theatre — to bring us the play, Unframed Art: The Spit Hits the Fan, on Sunday April 28th at the CMA.
Read about this cool event below and grab those tickets before they’re gone!
UnFramed Art: The Spit Hits the Fan
Sunday, April 28 | Seating starts at 2:00 p.m. | Play 2:30 – 3:15 p.m. | Reception 3:15 – 4:00 p.m.
FOR ONE DAY ONLY!
What do you get when you mix up visual art, two wacky playwrights, and five performers with too much time on their hands? You get UnFramed Art: The Spit Hits the Fan, a short original adult comedy brought to you by the Stars of Politically Incorrect Theatre (SPIT) Players. It’s a bizarre companion piece to Interior Lives: Modern American Spaces, 1890-1945, loosely inspired by works in the CMA-exclusive exhibition. The zany cast of characters — performed by Nick Good, Emily Harrill, Tiffany James, Perry Simpson, and Kathy Sykes — comically interprets how the art speaks to them and gives voice to what possibly might be the story behind the art. The 45-minute play is produced by Larry Hembree, cowritten by award-winning playwright Lou Clyde and Perry Simpson, and directed by Emily Harrill. Please note that the production is sponsored by no one. UnFramed Art contains some mature language and themes, so discretion is advised. Arrive early to enjoy the galleries prior to the performance. Beer, wine, and light snacks for sale. Brief reception with light refreshments to follow. $20 / $16 for members. Join today!
Buy Tickets
REVIEW: Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune
Trustus Side Door Theatre
April 11 – 20, 2024
The play opens on a darkened apartment, with a couple making love. After working together for several weeks Frankie, a waitress has agreed to a date with Johnny, a short-order cook, and the two have ended up in Frankie’s one-room walk-up apartment. Johnny (played by Jason Stokes) has fallen madly, absurdly, head-over-heels in love with Frankie (Marybeth Gorman Craig). Frankie thinks this is an absurd notion. She’s had a lovely evening but would be happiest if Johnny would just get dressed and leave so she could get in her pj’s and eat ice cream and watch television.
The evening unfurls as our two world-weary, battered souls talk and listen and question and argue about love and the notion of love, and whether any of us are really and truly prepared to meet the love of our lives, that one soul without whom we cannot live. A late-night classical music radio station provides the score, complete with a velvet-voiced deejay.
Johnny is persistent and obnoxious and relentless and meddling and romantic, and he NEVER SHUTS UP in his quest to convince Frankie that she is in fact his soulmate. There were several times when I wanted her to push him out the window or split his head open with an axe. He’s just adorable. This may be the best work I’ve seen from Stokes, and I’ve seen him in any number of roles. His shading, his timing, his nuance, his unending enthusiasm is all spot on.
I’m not sure how Marybeth Gorman Craig is able to pull off world-weary and luminous at the same time, but she does it beautifully. Her Frankie has been burned and disappointed by men over and over. Her skepticism is as relentless as Johnny’s enthusiasm. She would like to believe him, but her experiences won’t let her. Yet.
When I first heard this was being produced in the Side Door, I was concerned that it would be too “cozy” for this show. In fact it’s the perfect space. We feel as claustrophobic as Frankie. Jayce Tromsness’ scene design and Erin Wilson’s set dressing is true to tiny NYC apartments. There’s a working kitchen! I love a working kitchen on stage; Frankie’s need for a late-night nosh (cold meatloaf sandwiches – delish) resulted in real meatloaf sandwiches ON TOAST. (I went home and made toast after the show.) There’s a later scene where Johnny whips up a western omelet; there is a soupçon of menace to his chopping skill.
For any of you who might hesitate to see this show because you’ve heard that there would be NAKED PEOPLE onstage, relax. There are no naked people onstage in this production, and it didn’t affect the story one iota.
We’ve all had those all-nighters, where we argued and made up and loved and snacked and made discoveries about ourselves and each other and made love again until the sun rose. Hopefully, we’ve sometimes even had “the most beautiful music ever written” as a soundtrack. Erin Wilson has given us a lovely, lovely show. Frankie and Johnny are tired and resigned and hopeful and hopeless. You don’t necessarily get a “happy ending,” but you don’t get a sad one, either. I was sad and hopeful and wanted a cigarette at the end of the evening.
Sadly, you only have 4 more chances to see this production: April 17 – April 20 at 8:00 p.m. There is limited seating in the Side Door Theatre so make your reservations now. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling the theatre at 803-254-9732. Beer and wine are available for purchase in the lobby.